ture ends here. In two- or three-ply yarns, the
singles are doubled, twisted again, singed by running through a gas
flame, cleaned by friction, controlled, that is, the knots and lumps
taken out, and then reeled into skeins for dyeing or put on spools.

=Spun Numbers.= There are two methods in general use for numbering
spun silk. In the French system, the number is based on the singles,
by the meters per kilogram; two and three cord yarns have one-half,
one-third, etc., the length the numbers indicate. Thus--

No. 100 singles has 100,000 meters per kilogram.
No. 2-100 has 50,000 meters per kilogram.
No. 3-100 has 33,333 meters per kilogram.

The other system which is more generally used in this country, is the
English system. The hank is 840 yards, and the number of hanks in one
pound avoirdupois is the count of the yarn. It is based on the
finished yarn, and singles, two or three cord yarns of the same number
all have the same yards per pound. Thus--

No. 50 singles has 42,000 yards per pound.
No. 50-2 has 42,000 yards per pound.
No. 50-3 has 42,000 yards per pound.

=Dyeing Yarns.= Generally speaking there are two large classes into
which silk goods may be divided, those in which the threads are
colored before weaving and called yarn-dyed goods, and those dyed or
printed after weaving and called piece-dyed or printed goods. In
dyeing yarns, the silk is first ungummed and cleaned by boiling in
soap and water, then washed in cold water. If the thread is to be
weighted, as is frequently done, tin salts, iron, or other heavy
material is deposited on the fiber. If carried far, this is injurious,
making the silk tender and weak. Sometimes there is more weighting
than silk. Yarns are usually dyed in hot liquors, aniline colors
being the ones in most common use to-day, though other dyes are used
for special purposes. Some yarns are dyed in the gum, and some with a
part of the gum left in. After dyeing, they are washed in cold water,
dried, and wound on spools.

=Silk Dyeing.= Silk occupies in several respects an intermediate
position between the animal and vegetable fibers. Like wool, it is a
highly nitrogenous body, but contains no sulphur. It readily takes up
many of the colors which can be worked upon vegetable fiber by the aid
of the mordants. This is particularly the case with reference to a
large number of aniline colors, which require merely to be dissolved
and mixed with perfectly clear water in th